U.S. patent number 7,377,463 [Application Number 11/125,277] was granted by the patent office on 2008-05-27 for noise reducing seat belt retractor.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Key Safety Systems, Inc.. Invention is credited to Christopher D. Morgan, Bayard C. Temple.
United States Patent |
7,377,463 |
Morgan , et al. |
May 27, 2008 |
Noise reducing seat belt retractor
Abstract
A seat belt retractor has a spool for carrying seat belt webbing
rotatably mounted about a longitudinal axle and biased in a seat
belt webbing rewinding direction. A toothed ratchet wheel is
mounted to rotate with the spool. A sensor is provided for
detecting an emergency condition, and a vehicle acceleration sensor
lever is responsive to the sensor to engage the ratchet wheel in an
emergency. The retractor can operate in a first, emergency locking
mode in which the spool is not locked and can rotate to pay-out and
to rewind seat belt webbing. In a second, automatic locking mode
the spool is locked against pay-out of the seat belt webbing. A
switching means has a subassembly attached to an end of the seat
belt retractors. The subassembly has an axially directed spring to
reduce axial spacing between the housing, an eccentric cam and
axially adjacent disks.
Inventors: |
Morgan; Christopher D.
(Sterling Heights, MI), Temple; Bayard C. (Washington,
MI) |
Assignee: |
Key Safety Systems, Inc.
(Sterling Heights, MI)
|
Family
ID: |
37393220 |
Appl.
No.: |
11/125,277 |
Filed: |
May 9, 2005 |
Prior Publication Data
|
|
|
|
Document
Identifier |
Publication Date |
|
US 20060249618 A1 |
Nov 9, 2006 |
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
242/382;
242/382.2; 242/382.4; 242/384; 242/385; 280/805; 280/806 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B60R
22/415 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
B60R
22/40 (20060101) |
Field of
Search: |
;242/382.2,384,379.1,382.4,385.1-385.3 ;464/72,97-99,180
;280/805,806 ;297/475,480 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Cuomo; Peter M.
Assistant Examiner: Kruer; Stefan
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Drayer; Lonnie
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A seat belt retractor comprising a spool for carrying seat belt
webbing rotatably mounted about a longitudinal axis and biased in a
seat belt webbing rewinding direction, a toothed ratchet wheel
mounted to rotate with the spool, a sensor for detecting an
emergency condition, a vehicle acceleration sensor lever responsive
to the sensor to engage the ratchet wheel in the event of an
emergency condition, means for locking the spool against pay-out of
seat belt webbing in response to the vehicle acceleration sensor
lever engaging the ratchet wheel, the retractor having a means for
switching between an emergency locking mode in which the spool is
not locked and can rotate to pay-out and to rewind seat belt
webbing and an automatic locking mode in which the spool is locked
against pay-out of the seat belt webbing, wherein the switching
means comprises a subassembly attached to a first end of said seat
belt retractor, the subassembly having a housing and a plurality of
annular axially adjacent disks mounted on a rotatable eccentric cam
connected to said housing and having an axially directed spring
biasing member to reduce axial spacing between said housing,
eccentric cam and said plurality of annularly adjacent disks, the
axially directed spring biasing member being an integral portion of
one of said disks, and the plurality of axially adjacent disks
comprising a gear having an axially projecting pin; a child hold
out mechanism disk having a slot for accepting said projecting pin;
and a blockout disk having an opening for accepting said pin.
2. The seat belt retractor of claim 1 wherein the subassembly
further comprises a drive pin mounted at a first end of said axle
of said seat belt retractor and fixedly attached to said eccentric
cam as said seat belt webbing is protracted.
3. The seat belt retractor of claim 1 wherein the child hold out
mechanism disk includes an integral axially directed spring biasing
member.
4. The seat belt retractor of claim 1 wherein the spring biasing
member axially applies a spring force to insure at least partial
contact between each axially adjacent component sufficient to
reduce rattle noise.
5. The seat belt retractor of claim 3 wherein the child hold out
mechanism disk includes an inner ring portion mounted on said
eccentric cam, said inner ring portion being split to form a
spiraled ring having an axially directed spring biasing force.
6. The seat belt retractor of claim 5 wherein the axially directed
spring biasing member extends axially a distance (y) from a
generally planer surface of the disk and wherein a gap (g) between
a flange on said eccentric cam and the plurality of disks and as
measured as the distance (x) between an inside surface of the
housing and an inside surface of the cam flange minus the combined
axial thickness of the plurality of disks is (g), (g) being less
than (y).
7. The seat belt retractor of claim 4 wherein the spring biasing
member is radially adjacent said eccentric cam.
8. A subassembly attached to a first end of said seat belt
retractor, the subassembly having a housing and a plurality of
annular axially adjacent disks mounted on a rotatable eccentric cam
connected to said housing, and an axially directed spring biasing
member to reduce axial spacing between said housing, eccentric cam
and said plurality of annularly adjacent disks wherein the axially
directed spring biasing member is an integral portion of one of
said disks, the plurality of axially adjacent disks comprising a
gear having an axially projecting pin; a child hold out mechanism
disk having a slot for accepting said projecting pin; and a
blockout disk having an opening for accepting said pin.
9. The subassembly of claim 8 further comprising a drive pin
mounted at a first end of said axle of said seat belt retractor and
fixedly attached to said eccentric cam as said seat belt webbing is
protracted.
10. The subassembly of claim 8 wherein the child hold out mechanism
disk includes an integral axially directed spring biasing
member.
11. The subassembly of claim 8 wherein the spring biasing member
axially applies a spring force to insure at least partial contact
between each axially adjacent disk sufficient to reduce rattle
noise.
12. The subassembly of claim 8 wherein said adjacent disks with an
axially directed spring biasing member interposed are spaced along
opposing surfaces by a distance approximating a gap (g).
13. The subassembly of claim 10 wherein the child hold out
mechanism disk includes an inner ring portion mounted on said
eccentric cam, said inner ring portion being split to form a
spiraled ring having an axially directed spring biasing force.
14. The subassembly of claim 13 wherein the axially directed spring
biasing member extends axially a distance (y) from a generally
planar surface of the disk and wherein a gap (g) between a flange
on said eccentric cam and the plurality of disks and as measured as
the distance (x) between an inside surface of the housing and an
inside surface of the cam flange minus the combined axial thickness
of the plurality of disks is (g), (g) being less than (y).
15. The subassembly of claim 14 wherein the spring biasing member
is radially adjacent said eccentric cam.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The current invention relates to seat belt retractors.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A conventional seat belt retractor allows a vehicle occupant some
freedom of movement, but has a sensor to detect acceleration above
a predetermined magnitude indicative of an emergency situation. The
seat belt retractor then locks, arresting the vehicle occupant's
movement. This can also occur when the vehicle occupant leans
forward too quickly to reach a control on the instrument panel.
Seat belts which allow movement are desirable for adult vehicle
occupants as they restrain passengers in emergency situations but
are comfortable because they allow a reasonable degree of freedom
for movement during normal driving conditions. When transporting a
young child with a child seat the child seat must be fixed in
place, but it is desirable for the same seat belt retractor to also
operate as a normal inertial retractor to provide the expected
comfort for an adult.
This problem is a well known and several solutions have been
proposed. U.S. Pat. No. 6,109,556 teaches a seat belt arrangement
for motor vehicles, specially adapted for use with a child seat to
switch between a fixed mode for the child seat and an automatic
mode for adults. Such a seat belt retractor is known as a Child
Hold Out Mechanism, sometimes referred to as a "CHOM".
U.S. Pat. No. 6,109,556 teaches a retractor switching means
comprising a cam connected to a spool via a step down gearing
arrangement and a cam follower. The step down gearing arrangement
comprises an inner gear ring and a gear arrangement with a drive
peg located at a predetermined radius. The drive peg is arranged to
move cycloidally and rotate the cam when the gear rotates. This
cycloidal motion often results in the gear arrangement being known
as a "wobble" gear. The cam follower is pivotally mounted and
arranged to be in continuous contact with the cam surface. At a
predetermined rotational orientation of the cam, the cam follower
urges the sensor lever into engagement with a toothed ratchet wheel
fixed to the spool to lock the spool and seat belt webbing
protraction.
A particular problem with Child Hold Out Mechanism retractors is
that a large number of components are needed and this increases the
size of the retractor as well as introducing numerous components
that generate noise commonly referred to as "rattle noise".
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a
noise reducing feature to such seat belt retractors.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
There is provided in accordance with the present invention a seat
belt retractor comprising a spool for carrying seat belt webbing
rotatably mounted about a longitudinal axle and biased in a seat
belt webbing rewinding direction, a toothed ratchet wheel mounted
to rotate with the spool, a sensor for detecting an emergency
condition, a vehicle acceleration sensor lever responsive to the
sensor to engage the ratchet wheel in the event of an emergency
condition, means for locking the spool against pay-out of seat belt
webbing in response to the vehicle acceleration sensor lever
engaging the ratchet wheel, the retractor being adapted to operate
in a first, emergency locking mode in which the spool is not locked
and can rotate to pay-out and to rewind seat belt webbing. In a
second, automatic locking mode in which the spool is locked against
pay-out of the seat belt webbing and means for switching between
the first mode and the second mode, wherein, the switching means
comprises a subassembly attached to a first end of said seat belt
retractor, the subassembly having a housing, a plurality of annular
axially adjacent disks mounted on a rotatable eccentric cam
connected to said housing characterized by an axially directed
spring biasing member to reduce axial spacing between said housing,
eccentric cam and said plurality of annularly adjacent disks.
The subassembly may further include a drive pin mounted at a first
end of said axle of said seat belt retractor and fixedly attached
to said eccentric cam to provide rotational movement of said cam as
said seat belt webbing is protracted.
The plurality of axially adjacent disks include a gear having an
axially projecting pin; a child hold out mechanism disk having a
slot for accepting said projecting pin; and a blockout disk having
an opening for accepting said pin.
In a preferred embodiment the axially directed spring biasing
member is an integral portion of one of said disk, more preferably
in the child hold out mechanism disk includes the integral axially
directed spring biasing member formed as an inner ring or
projecting appendage portion mounted on said eccentric cam as a
split ring. The split ring forms a spiraled ring having an axially
projecting end when formed as a ring the ring is cut having a
projecting end which provides a spring biasing force. The axially
directed spring biasing member extends axially from the disk
generally planar surface a distance (y) and wherein a gap (g)
between a flange on said eccentric cam and the plurality of disks
and as measured as the distance X between an inside surface of the
housing and an inside surface of the cam flange minus the combined
axial thickness of the disks is (g), wherein (g) is less than (y).
Similarly when formed as a projecting appendage that portion acts
as a leaf spring also projecting a distance (y) The spring biasing
member applies a force to insure at least partial contact between
each axially adjacent component sufficing to reduce rattle noise.
The spring biasing member can be radially adjacent the eccentric
cam. When the axially directed spring biasing member is interposed
between two adjacent disks the disks are held apart by a distance
approximating or substantially equal to said gap (g). This insures
the opposing surfaces of said disks are spaced, whereby, in order
for the disks to come into contact they must overcome the spring
force. This provides an overall noise reduction of the seat belt
retractor subassembly.
Definitions
"Axial" means in a direction parallel to an axle of the seat belt
retractor.
"ALR" means Automatic Locking Retractor.
"CHOM" means Child Holdout Mechanism.
"ELR" means Emergency Locking Retractor.
"Radial" means in a direction extending from the axis of rotation
of the axle of the seat belt retractor.
"Wobble Gear" means a cycloidal gear.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a partially exploded perspective view of an exemplary
seat belt retractor according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a CHOM disk according to the prior
art.
FIG. 3 is a plan view of the prior art CHOM disk of FIG. 2.
FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view of the prior art CHOM disk.
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a CHOM disk according to a first
embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 6 is a plan view of the CHOM disk of FIG. 5.
FIG. 7 is a cross sectional view taken along lines 7-7 of the CHOM
disk of FIG. 6.
FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a second and preferred embodiment
CHOM disk according to the present invention.
FIG. 9 is a plan view of the CHOM disk of FIG. 8.
FIG. 10 is a side view of the CHOM disk of FIG. 8.
FIG. 11 is a cross sectional view of the CHOM disk of FIG. 9 taken
along lines 11-11.
FIG. 12 is an exploded perspective view of a subassembly according
to the present invention.
FIG. 13 is an assembled side view of the subassembly of FIG.
12.
FIG. 14 is an assembled cross sectional view of FIG. 13 taken along
lines 14-14.
FIG. 14A is an enlarged portion of the cross section of FIG. 14
taken within the dashed lines marked 14A.
FIG. 15 is an end view of the seat belt retractor with the
subassembly shown mounted to the retractor according to the present
invention.
FIG. 16 is a cross sectional view of the seat belt retractor of
FIG. 15 taken along lines 16-16.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
In FIG. 1, an exemplary vehicle seat belt retractor 100 is shown
with the seat belt webbing 21 substantially fully protracted from a
spool 1 mounted in a frame 2 with a subassembly shown in an
exploded view detached from the end of the retractor. Thus the
individual parts of the mechanism can be more clearly seen. Like
reference signs are used throughout the figures. The seat belt
retractor 100 comprises a lock bar 3, a pivotable mounting member
4, drive pin 5, a drive axle 50, a vehicle acceleration sensor 6, a
vehicle acceleration sensor lever 7 pivotable about a pivot point
7b, an inner gear ring 8, a wobble gear arrangement 9, a pin 10, an
eccentric cam 11, a CHOM disk 12 with a cam surface having an
indentation 13 therein comprising a ramp 13a and a step 13b that is
substantially radial to the cam surface for engaging an actuation
lever 15, a window or slot 14, an actuation lever pivot fastener
16, an actuation lever spring 17, a mounting member spring 18, a
ratchet wheel 19, a lock gear 20, a fixed mounting member 22 and
mounting lugs 23. The actuation lever 15 has a relatively smaller
contact area with the cam surface of the CHOM disk 12 when not in
engagement with the indentation 13 in the cam surface than when in
engagement with the indentation in the cam surface. The exemplary
seat belt retractor 100 of the figures operates in two distinct
modes: a first, Emergency Locking Retractor (ELR) mode; and a
second, Automatic Locking Retractor (ALR) mode. In ELR mode, seat
belt webbing 21 can be wound onto the spool 1 and pulled from the
spool 1. This allows the vehicle occupant to move freely to, for
example, adjust a radio or a control on a vehicle instrument panel.
Sudden movements, however, which have an acceleration greater than
a predetermined magnitude, for example caused by a sharp vehicle
deceleration, cause the seat belt retractor to lock. This prevents
further payout of the seat belt webbing 21 and restrains the
vehicle occupant. Most vehicle occupants use the seat belt
retractor in ELR mode.
In ALR mode, seat belt webbing 21 can be retracted on to the spool
1 but not pulled from the spool 1. This mode is used when
restraining a child seat in a vehicle.
To switch to ALR mode, a predetermined amount of seat belt webbing
21 is pulled from the spool 1. This activates a mechanism that
locks the spool 1 against further payout of seat belt webbing
21.
Usually this switching occurs when substantially the whole of the
seat belt webbing 21 is retracted, for example, is wound on the
spool 1. The spool 1 is biased in the retraction direction of the
seat belt webbing 21.
FIG. 1 is a partially exploded view of the subassembly of the seat
belt retractor 100 shown. This clearly shows the housing 31, the
drive pin 5, the wobble gear 9, the pin 10, located on the wobble
gear 9, the eccentric cam 11, the CHOM disk 12 with the window 14
cut through the CHOM disk 12, the blockout disk 40 and the
actuation lever 15.
The window or slot 14 comprises a concentric arcuate slot cut
through the face of the CHOM disk 12 and having an inner wall and
an outer wall at respective predetermined radii from the center of
the cam and each having a predetermined arcuate length. In the
particular embodiment shown, the arcuate slot 14 extends through an
angle of just less than 180 degrees.
The pin 10 is located at a predetermined radius on the wobble gear
9. The position of the pin 10 within the slot 14 is determined by
the amount of seat belt webbing 21 that has been pulled from the
spool 1.
The actuation lever 15 is pivotally attached to the pivotable
mounting member 4 at the pivot point fastener 16. One portion of
the actuation lever 15 is biased towards the cam surface of CHOM
disk 12 by the actuation lever spring 17. In the embodiment shown,
a helical spring in compression is in the actuation lever spring 17
that causes the actuation lever 15 to remain in contact with the
cam surface of the CHOM disk 12 irrespective of the rotational
orientation of the CHOM disk 12.
A mounting member 22 is fixedly attached to a frame 2. The fixed
mounting member 22 can be made of a plastic material and the frame
2 can be made of metal.
The vehicle acceleration sensor lever 7 is pivotally mounted to the
pivotable mounting member 4 at a pivot point 7b. The vehicle
acceleration sensor 6 is a standing man sensor, well known in the
art, that is mounted on the pivotable mounting member 4 to detect
vehicle accelerations and decelerations above a predetermined
magnitude and upon detection of said accelerations/decelerations to
bias the vehicle acceleration sensor lever against at least one
tooth on the ratchet wheel. The vehicle acceleration sensor 6 may
take other forms. The internal gear ring 8 is fixed to the housing
31 as best seen in FIG. 15. In one embodiment, the step-down
gearing is a cycloidal gear system commonly known as a wobble gear
9. However, other step-down gearing can be used. Preferably, the
step-down gearing is a cycloidal system comprising an eccentric
cam. The drive pin 5, the eccentric cam 11, the wobble gear 9 and
the CHOM disk 12 can all move relative to the pivotable mounting
member 4.
Fixedly mounted to the drive axle 50 are a ratchet wheel 19 and a
lock gear 20, as shown in FIG. 1. The vehicle acceleration sensor 6
detects accelerations/decelerations above a predetermined
magnitude. When accelerations/decelerations are below the
predetermined magnitude, the vehicle acceleration sensor lever 7,
pivotable about a pivot point 7b is not engaged with the ratchet
wheel 19. This allows rotation of the spool 1 and hence the
eccentric cam 5, ratchet wheel 19 and lock gear 20, in both seat
belt webbing 21 extraction and retraction directions. When the
vehicle acceleration sensor 6 detects accelerations/decelerations
above a predetermined magnitude, the vehicle acceleration sensor
lever 7 pivots about the pivot point 7b and engages with at least
one tooth on the ratchet wheel 19. Preferably, the vehicle
acceleration sensor lever 7 is the only lever arranged to engage
the ratchet wheel 19. This allows a relatively substantial
reduction in size over known seat belt retractors of this type that
use additional levers to engage the ratchet. One portion of the
vehicle acceleration sensor lever 7 is arranged to co-operate with
the sensor 6 and another portion is arranged for engagement with
the ratchet wheel 19 and wherein the pivot point 7b of the vehicle
acceleration sensor lever 7 is located between each of said
portions. Any further rotation of the spool 1, and hence the drive
axle 50, the ratchet wheel 19 and the lock gear 20, in the
direction of seat belt webbing 21 pay-out, is communicated by the
vehicle acceleration sensor lever 7 to the pivotable mounting
member 4 causing it to rotate in the same direction as the spool 1,
compressing the mounting member spring 18 and causing the lock bar
3, which is pivotally mounted on the frame 2 to engage with the
lock gear 20 fully arresting the rotation of the spool 1. This
happens during vehicle crashes and when a vehicle occupant pulls
too sharply on the seat belt webbing 21.
The operation of the seat belt retractor as it switches from ELR
mode, as shown, into ALR mode, is more fully described in U.S. Pat.
No. 6,631,865 which is incorporated herein by reference in its
entirety. For purposes of this invention the actual performance of
the mechanism is somewhat irrelevant except for the fact that the
functioning of the seat belt retractor and more specifically the
child holdout mechanism subassembly must not be impeded by the
addition of the noise dampening features described below.
With reference to FIGS. 2-4 a prior art CHOM disk 12 is shown the
CHOM disk 12 has the window or arcuate slot 14 and cam surface 13
as illustrated. At the inner diameter of the CHOM disk 12 is shown
an annular ring 12a, this annular ring 12a is adapted to be mounted
on the eccentric cam 11. As shown in the cross sectional view the
CHOM disk 12 has a substantially parallel and planar surface having
a thickness (t).
With reference to FIGS. 5, 6 and 7 a CHOM disk 12 according to a
first embodiment of the present invention is shown. The CHOM disk
12 is modified such that an appendage 12c is illustrated wherein
the appendage 12c acts as a leaf spring or axially directed spring
biasing member projecting outward from the surface as shown in FIG.
7. This slight projection outward from the surface creates an
axially directed spring force to be generated when the assembly is
made such that the CHOM disk 12 exerts an axial force against the
other components thereby taking the slack out and any gap (g) that
might be created during the assembly. This is particularly
important in mass production wherein tolerance stack ups are such
that one must provide a sufficient amount of gap (g) so that all
the components can be adequately assembled otherwise the components
will simply not fit when assembled.
With reference to FIGS. 8, 9, 10 and 11 a preferred and second
embodiment of the present invention is shown wherein the CHOM disk
12 has the inner ring portion 12a split in such a fashion that an
end 12b is projecting outward from the surface, this end 12b
projects out a distance (y) from the planar surface, this distance
(y) is sufficiently wider than any tolerance gap (g) created by the
assembly of components as the components are mounted the end 12b
deflects by an amount of (g) such that the gap (g) is eliminated
completely this insures that all the components are assembled and
in contact such that no rattle or vibration noises can be heard
during normal operation of the vehicle. This split ring 12b acts as
the axially directed spring biasing member.
With reference to FIGS. 12, 13, 14 and 15 the CHOM subassembly 30
is shown in exploded view in FIG. 12 on the far left is the drive
pin 5, the eccentric cam 11, the blockout disk 40, the CHOM disk
12, and the wobble gear 9 as can be seen the eccentric cam 11 has a
protruding flange 11c that retains the disk components and gears
such that they are positioned between the flange 11c and the
housing 31. With reference to FIG. 15 the end of the housing 31 on
the inner surface includes the inner ring gear 8 which is
complimentary to the wobble gear 9. With further reference to FIG.
14 as shown when the components are assembled the eccentric cam 11
has a projecting portion 11a that matingly engages with an opening
30a on the housing 31 such that they are captively retained holding
all of the working mechanisms such as the disk 12, 40 and gear 9
and cam 11. At the opposite end, the drive pin 5 has an end portion
5b that is inserted into the eccentric cam opening 11b such that
the drive pin 5 and eccentric cam 11 are adapted to rotate together
when being driven by the drive axle 50. As further illustrated in
FIG. 13 mounting projections 32 are provided on the exterior of the
housing 31 in three locations. These mounting projections 32 are
spring loaded such that it can be snapped into the retractor frame
2 at the hole locations 27. This is shown more clearly in FIG. 16
wherein the housing 31 is shown physically mounted to the frame 2.
The drive pin 5 has an end 5b adapted to engage the axle opening
50a within the axle 50. With reference to FIG. 14 and FIG. 14A as
can be seen each of the components, the wobble gear 9, the CHOM
disk 12 and the blockout disk 40, each have a thickness (t) when
mounted to the eccentric cam 11 the distance between the flange 11c
and the inside wall of the housing 31 is represented as a distance
X. Absent the present invention's axially directed spring member
12c, the disks and gear components would have a gap (g), g being
the distance between the distance X and each of the components
cumulative thickness (t). By providing this axially directed spring
member 12c a deflection occurs such that the spring member 12c is
pushed back taking up all the slack between the members such that
they are all in contact and slightly pre loaded in the axial
direction such that any noise or rattle due to the parts vibrating
during normal use is eliminated and virtually reduced to zero. In
order for the parts to rattle the spring force must be overcome by
an acceleration of the various components. Since each of the
components is made of plastic and relatively lightweight a
significant amount of acceleration or vibration is required in
order to stimulate a sufficient reaction to overcome the biasing
spring force.
While it is the intention of the present invention to provide an
efficient child holdout mechanism subassembly 30 that is both
reliable and quiet it is also understood that this child holdout
mechanism subassembly 30 is clearly adaptable to any number of seat
belt retractors. These seat belt retractors can take a variety of
shapes and sizes and accordingly the use of the noise reducing
features may be modified as required, however, it is sufficient to
indicate that the exemplary seat belt retractor 100 is provided
only for purpose of illustration in explaining the design concept
and how the noise reduction is achieved in the subassembly of
components. Accordingly, it is understood that variations in the
subassembly 30 can occur and that the axially directed spring
biasing member can be provided on any of the rotating disk members
including the wobble gear itself should that be desired.
Alternatively, the spring biasing member could be provided as a
separate component that provides sufficient absorption of the gap
upon assembly such that the noise rattling feature can be achieved
whether the component is integral to the disk which is the
preferred method because it requires no additional components or
whether it is provided as a separate component. In either case the
beneficial attributes of reducing rattle within the assembly is
achieved.
Variations in the present invention are possible in light of the
description of it provided herein. While certain representative
embodiments and details have been shown for the purpose of
illustrating the subject invention, it will be apparent to those
skilled in this art that various changes and modifications can be
made therein without departing from the scope of the subject
invention. It is, therefore, to be understood that changes can be
made in the particular embodiments described which will be within
the full intended scope of the invention as defined by the
following appended claims.
* * * * *